When Will Virgil Van Dijk Play Next? Liverpool Boss Drops Hint

KEY POINTS

Virgil Van Dijk underwent knee surgery last year
He has not played for Liverpool since October
He suffered ACL injury during the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park

Liverpool FC boss Jurgen Klopp Tuesday hinted at Virgil van Dijk's long-awaited return to action ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Klopp said that Van Dijk, who has not played for Liverpool since undergoing knee surgery in October last year, could feature in the Reds' upcoming pre-season friendly clash with Hertha Berlin on Thursday, according to Liverpool's official website.

“I hope, I am not sure, that there is the opportunity that Virgil could play a few minutes. He looks really good in training and maybe we can bring [him in], but I need to have some final conversations. He looks ready and we will see,” Klopp told Liverpool's website in a conversation in their team hotel in Austria.

Liverpool were without both their first-choice center-back options Van Dijk and Joe Gomez for the majority of last season due to their respective injuries. In the same interview, Klopp also made a positive comment about England national Gomez, saying the defender is also close to returning to action.

“If you see the games now as part of their rehab training, that makes sense. Joey is very close. There is no race between the two of them; they had different injuries and stuff like this, but [he is] very close. If Virgil can play now 20 then probably Joey can in the game after. We will see. In training they both look really good. I think from time to time there are some pictures of them from training sessions and everyone can see how good it looks, but there is no rush for us. It is not about they now need five pre-season games to be ready for the start or whatever,” added Klopp in the same interview.

Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (left)went unpunished for his shocking tackle on Van Dijk (centre) POOL / Laurence Griffiths

Liverpool are looking to bounce back in the upcoming campaign after going trophy-less in the 2020-21 season. The return of Gomez and Van Dijk will be a major boost to Klopp's squad going into the new term.

“It is a long season and we prepare them after these very, very serious injuries for the rest of their careers and not for the first game of the season. Losing a little bit of patience for them to return as a supporter or as a coach even is not bad, it just means they were pretty good and we want them to be back in the team,” said Klopp.